Heart of the Scar - Process

As promised when I first showed of the Heart of the Scar I have for you today a look at the steps that went into the piece. Over the last couple of years I have been able to put together a work flow that has been very successful for me. The work flow plays to my strengths and insures that I am aware and address my weaknesses. If you saw my recent post on the process for the Oasis Beast, then this work flow should look very familiar. Since I was creating a brand new creature and illustrating it I started with some concepts for the creature and thumbnails for the over all illustration. As you will see, I had a fairly set idea of what I wanted to do for the illustration...

Shoth-Goragg Concepts
© 2011 Wizards of the Coast
Option 'B' was my first choice but 'C' was the winner in the end.

Heart of the Scar thumbnails
© 2011 Wizards of the Coast
Not sure if any of these were a stand out favorite of mine. I just knew I wanted to get up close and personal with the monster so you could see all the tentacles and horror. Option 'C' was the winner with production.

Now that I had a monster and a composition I could get started on a final drawing. Looking at the drawing now I am a little shocked how little detail I put into it, especially with it being such a large and prominent piece. I guess I felt confident in the subject matter and forms that I didn't need any thing more complex from the drawing. Of course, it tuned out I was correct... thankfully!

Heart of the Scar drawing

© 2011 Wizards of the Coast
Need to kill you player's characters? I got something for you...

I was working on this piece and the Oasis Beast at the same time. I have a superstition that makes me work on paintings in the order I was assigned them, since the Oasis Beast was first on the list I finished it first followed by the Heart of the Scar. I usually prefer to work on larger more complex paintings first, but my silly superstition wouldn't allow it. When I did get started on the painting I was a little surprised with how quickly it went...

Heart of the Scar painting progression
© 2011 Wizards of the Coast

After an undetermined amount of time I had a finished monster ready to devour unsuspecting players. As I have mentioned previously, I really need to keep track of how much time goes into a painting one of these days. As per my work flow, I put the piece away for a few days to have a look at it with fresh eyes, made some changes and turned it in with my fingers crossed that I had not taken stupid pills when working on it. Thankfully I had not and the piece was approved without revisions!

Heart of the Scar - Shoth-Goragg
© 2011 Wizards of the Coast

This piece is my first cover and to make it even better it is for Dungeons and Dragons. I could not be happier and it was a real treat to work on! To wrap up the post, here is the piece on the cover...

Dungeon Issue #197

Another monster to add to the monster zoo in my head. If you have any questions regarding the steps I take or the process in which I work, please feel free to ask!

That is all for another exciting Wednesday on the blog, see you back here on Friday for some tentacled holiday cheer! Until then...

For more samples of my work or to contact me regarding my availability head over to my website: www.christopherburdett.com